Susan Lee: My Decision

Life is not easy for any of us but, I believe that the success and happiness in my life all depend on the decision I made. I was standing at a turning point of my life when I was in university; specifically, it was a valuable experience for me. I had started taking music lessons when I was 17; since then, I have been interested in music. Anyway, I succeeded in the entrance examination to the music program in the university. As time went by, I was promote to a singer and I hoped I would be one of the best singers in the world. Therefore, I was anxious to continue my studies in Italy; however, my father wanted me to become a music teacher. He had great expectations for my future as a teacher, believing, there was opportunity to got a teacher's licence in my campus if a student ranked among the top 10 in the class. As a result, a psychological conflict was created in my mind, and I had a big fight with him; then I determined not to see him again. But I had changed my mind to try something new. Thus, My decision to become a music teacher helped me to gain work experience in two jobs and learn the know-how of teaching.

First, I could have two kinds of job experience in my field. I was working as a music teacher in the high school on weekdays. It was a girls' school; during the work, it made me think of my childhood. I was sharing joy and sadness with my students; of course, many years from now I may look back on those days as the most rewarding day of my life. Also, I was singing in the professional choir on weekends. I could join this choir through Mr. Kim, who was another music teacher in my school, introduced me to the choir. There were many concert in my choir. Fortunately, all performances and practice started after finishing my work. I could trained well and could learn how to control my voice tone in the choir; namely, I kept my voice without studying abroad.

Second, I was able to learn know-how in teaching. One of these was how to manage high school students; especially, someone who has family problems. For example, the parents of one student, age15, ran an internet game club and worked through the night; then got home at 7 o'clock in the next morning, so they could not take care of her. She always came late to school with no snack and lunch; besides, she slept during the class. Also, she was addicted to propane gas. I remember that I spent much time solving her problems. I met her parents, talked with her and even participated in her personal life; later, I felt that I had not suffered in vain. After few months, she opened her mind when I gave the lunch that I had cooked with all my heart. Her situation was improving gradually while I was spending time with her. I learned so many things from that time, and it was my most valuable experience. Futhermore, I could learn how truly to love my students. I realized that silence cannot express love. It would begin to work when people sacrifice for others.

In conclusion, If I had studied in Italy, I could have learned great techniques in voice, but I could not learn how to teach. I've never regretted that I made the decision to become a teacher; of course, I will never complain to my father; on the contrary, I would rather say thanks to him.

Rafael Bong: The Crucible vs. Maher Arar's Case

During the time human beings have reigned on the face of the earth, they have tried to control all at their grasp. During their conquest for control, they started to greed for power over all there is, even over their own race. Over millennia, many changes have been made in the power structure and how it is exerted; however, with the history repeating itself, humans have always roared for more power. At the vertex of man’s greed for power, stands the witch-hunt that can justify battering one’s foes in any conceivable fashion. The play Crucible by Arthur Miller and the recent case of Maher Arar display the same tragic quality even though they are separated in time by three centuries. Once again proving human ignorance is not a thing of the past; there are shocking similarities between Maher Arar’s case and Miller’s Crucible.

Arthur Miller’s Crucible is about the witch-hunt and the subsequent trials in the late 17th century in the town of Salem. When Reverend Parris, the main religious and political authority of the town, catches a group of girls dancing in the forest, the accusations and fear of witch craft sweep through the small town. To safeguard themselves and to preserve their Puritan way of life, a small group of town’s people embarked on a witch hunt, fueled by false accusations from the young girls. However, some opportunists saw the chance to settle their personal scores with their neighbours or to seize land by sending the rightful owners to the gallows in the midst of the hysteria that swept the town. Similarly, in a modern-day witch-hunt, Maher Arar, a Canadian-Syrian engineer, was arrested in New York and deported to Syria in 2002. With the threat of terrorism in the every corner of US citizens’ lives, many feared that they might be the next target. With false accusations and with false evidence provided by the Canadian and American authorities, Maher Arar was tortured and brutalized in Syrian prisons. During the modern witch-hunt, he was forced to live in hoorendous conditions and was ignored in his plead for human rights. Finally, the Canadian government was forced to apologize to Arar and compensate him for his ordeal.

To begin with, one of the similarities in both cases is the mass hysteria. Firstly, some Salem citizens and Maher Arar were the victims of the mad fear that took hold of the society. In the Crucible, the Salem citizens were afraid of the Satan who is unknown as it does not take a corporal form. Satan may take any form it wishes to corrupt, threaten and dominate the city. Similarly, in the Maher Arar’s case, fear played its part in spreading mass hysteria. In his case, the Lucifer was Bin Laden, an unknown specter lurking in the dark ready to strike with his evil associates. Secondly, revenge is another factor contributing to ramification of the madness that devoured innocent souls. In The Crucible, more and more people saw the witch-hunt as an opportunity to settle their personal scores; for example, as Reverend Parris came to Salem, he showed his greed for power and abused his position in the theocratical society. As John proctor, a pious man, noticed it, he refused to take orders from Parris. As the Witch-hunt swept the city, Parris accused John of association with the devil. In the same way, the revenge wave that took hold of America, as Maher Arar became the face of Arab threat as all the 9/11 terrorists were of Arabic origin. Not only that, but also safety became another factor sparking mass hysteria. The Salem citizens, like most of the people in the 17th century thought that Devil was present in all aspects of their lives, biding his time to strike. They attributed such events as the death of children to the devil and strived to protect themselves from it by charging Nurse Rebecca with “the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam’s babies”. Also in the Maher Arar’s case, as terrorists attacked the innocent, many people became paranoid about their safety with the over protectiveness as they began to view people of the Middle Eastern people with suspicion. Lastly, anxiety towards change became another building block in the wall of mass hysteria. In the Crucible, the theocratic government was being doubted by such people as John Proctor as is evident in the conflict between Parris and Proctor. As the Puritan ideas of the time were very strict and mostly based on religion, any frivolous activities like dancing were suppressed. Likewise, the 9/11 terror attack was a wake up call for the US citizens, ruffling them out of their comfort zone. As the sole superpower of the world, US was enjoying peaceful, rich, comfortable life, and when the 9/11 terror attack happened, the US citizens became aware of the fact that a new era was coming.

Moreover, another similarity is the wrongful accusations concerning false evidence and the inefficient judicial system. First, in both Crucible and the Maher Arar’s case, false evidence took a monumental part to create calamity. In the Crucible, for example, Abigail who started the problem spread it further by lying. She sticks a needle in a poppet and has Mary Warren take it to John Proctor’s home. Later that night, Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, is apprehended for witchcraft. Also in the Maher Arar’s case, he was suspected as a terrorist. Being from the Middle East, Maher Arar was easily suspected to have a relationship with the Al Qaeda, for he was a friend of suspected Al Qaeda member who later turned out to be innocent. Not only that but also, according to Arar, no one told him what the real charges were. Secondly, these two cases show how inefficient judicial systems can bring about disastrous results. In Salem witch trial, theocratic courts ignored all the material facts. Danforth and Hathorne, the government officials, had blur ideas about the situation. The fact that they were religiously following their beliefs made them easily ignore the witnesses and evidence opposing them. Also, many times the witnesses were accused. Not only that but also the suspects were pressured to confess or else they were hanged. Likewise, in the Maher Arar’s case, he was deported to Syria without any hearing. Moreover, his rights were ignored as he was pressured physically and mentally to sign documents, and was ultimately sent to Syria for torture.

Finally, another similarity that events shared was the unaccountable power of state. Firstly, in the Crucible, Danforth with all of the power given to him regarded any opposition bringing down of the court which was punishable by death. Also, in the late seventeenth century, there were no jury or any lawyer in Salem to protect the rights of the citizens. Moreover, the judicial system was very unstable with Reverend Parris, Hale, Hathorne and Putnam leading Danforth to decisions. Likewise in Arar’s case, the US government used USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 as a justification for its unlawful acts. According to the US PATRIOT Act, the US government has all of authority granted to them. This enables them to continue ignoring human rights by deporting the terrorism suspects without notice to the countries where torture is widely practiced. Not only that but also, with the US controlling every aspect of power in the world, USA PATRIOT Act proposed to protect people from terrorist’s acts over the world, even where the Al Qaeda surly will not attack. The racist act of USA PATRIOT Act suggests that only immigrants from the Middle East and some other parts of the world are likely to be terrorists.

As the saying goes, “History repeats itself.” Even though the Crucible and the Maher Arar’s case distance themselves by three centuries, they still share many similarities. Throughout the history, human beings have engaged in false accusations and victimizing others to protect their communities and their way of life from imagined threats for which they could not find an explanation. With one individual with all the power, is it morally right to sacrifice innocent people without clear evidence just because someone thinks they are guilty?

Diana Chung: King Lear

“What happens to the classics of hero if the hero becomes a romp for buffoons, if hubris is just another word for macho?”1 is probably an unusual concern to be raised in a classroom where students learn about one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, King Lear. In a typical English class, students seem to absorb the ‘classical’ interpretations of King Lear while instructors elaborate on the idea of Lear as an admirable tragic hero. However, Martha Fiske, in her article “What Happened to Mrs. Lear – Or. Students Force a Fresh View of King Lear” published in English Journal in March 1987, explains her personal struggles to firmly establish the purpose of studying the play: Lear is a tragic hero. Students question and comment on the play from a perspective that Fiske have not taught or thought of before in her five year teaching experience. She, at first, is unconvinced of her students’ method of interpretation, but as her class continues to view Lear from an untraditional point-of-view, Fiske is distracted from her original classical theatre lesson plan. This article is full of interest, for it led me to think about King Lear from a different perspective, yet gave me an opportunity to compare my thoughts with Ms. Fiske’s students’ by locating agreements and disagreements.
The article begins with a student’s question from day one: “We’re supposed to admire that guy?”2. The class struggles to find out who to admire in the play because Lear, in their opinion, is an un-fatherly character who wants to be taken care of like a baby and trashes his only truthful daughter, Cordelia. The students’ criticisms of the play continue as they are into the subplot on the second day. Fiske builds sympathy for Gloucester and Lear as she finds the rashness, use of imagery, and reference to animals as both characters’ similarities while her students name Gloucester “another Lear look-alike”3 who does not deserve their sympathy. Fiske and her students’ different perspective can also be noticed in what they consider important in Edmund’s soliloquy: the students enjoy sexual jokes which distracts them from focusing on property of rights and his dark ambition that Fiske had on her lesson plan. However, from the third day, she begins to be shaken by the comment on Lear who is an old brat and a bad parent, for he attacks his own daughter’s sexuality. The students further question on the issue of women’s role in play and why Lear always blames women as the cause of all evil. Fiske, too, is “repelled”4 by Lear’s insult towards women; she is convinced to think about the play like her class did. She is persuaded to think that Lear is now not a tragic hero, but an old selfish brat who is irresponsible of his children and his own unwise decisions. She is willing to thank her students for teacher her ‘untraditional’ interpretations of King Lear.
Although Ms. Fiske’s students learned King Lear from a different perspective, I discovered some common opinions we have on the play. The class mentions that in the beginning of the story, Lear shows un-fatherly behaviour to trash Cordelia only for the reason that she did not give him a satisfying answer he expected. Blinded by Goneril and Regan’s so-called “love”, Lear does not see Cordelia’s truth and disunite their family relationship to compensate for his feelings: “Here I disclaim all my paternal care…and property of blood”5. Lear’s behaviour is very awkward because I have never witnessed parents who abandon their children. Not only does Lear demonstrate childish behaviour, but he also shows the qualities of being a bad parent. This is evident in his attacks of Goneril’s sexuality to “dry up her organs of increase / And from her derogate body never spring a babe to honor her”6. Parents should care and love children instead of cursing them. In addition, this is probably the reason why Ms. Fiske’s students and I think that Gloucester feels more guilt than Lear. Lear curses his daughters but not rethink of his own guilt until later on; on the other hand, Gloucester realizes his mistakes quickly as he pray to god to “forgive [him] that, and to prosper [Edgar]”7. Another fact that I agree with Ms. Fiske’s class is that illegitimacy has nothing to do with eroticism. In fact, I think that it determines the status of a person and may influence the inheritance of family title. For example, Edmund’s speech about politics of illegitimacy stresses the point that bastard sons have disadvantage of inheriting family wealth while the legitimate son Edgar has the right to the heir according to the rules; however he doesn’t blame it on Gloucester’s sexual desires with his mom.
Undoubtedly, the method of their interpretation and my approach in understanding King Lear collides in some arguments about the characters. The students’ conversation about Cordelia not having enough lines to say in Act I is controversial in terms of their supporting reasons. They say the reason is that she is upset for being “auctioned off to the lowest bidder”8 when in fact quite the opposite is the case: she is sad for her father who is deceived by her insincere sisters. She grieves, for her father is blinded by the confusion of love and power who tells Cordelia that “better [her] / Hadst not been born than not t’have pleased [him] better”9. If I were Cordelia, tears would fall down my cheeks for being rejected by my own father, but not for my “fallen price”10. Further disagreement was on the statement that bad guys are from bad mothers and fathers are just “genetic bystanders”11. Whore mother, in the case of Edmund’s mom, does not mean she is necessarily bad. It was a term used in the past for women who had children before marriage; therefore, this ‘evilness’ and ‘bad’ are not suitable description for Edmund’s mother. The audience does not have much knowledge about his mom, so there is lack of evidence to prove that Edmund is evil due to his ‘bad mom’. Ms. Fiske’s students also comment on lack of Cordelia’s impact on the story line to compensate for the ruthless comments on females. This is incorrect because throughout the play, Cordelia “return[s] [filial] duties back as are right fit” (I.i.99) and doesn’t use Lear’s confusion of love and power for her own benefit unlike her greedy sisters. Her “so young and true”12 warm personality rather helps the readers to soften their views of females even though she has limited lines. Although Goneril and Regan’s behaviours angered me, I was able to balance my impression on females in the play through Cordelia’s innocence. Above all, the most contrary idea mentioned in the article is that “he (Lear) never regrets!”13. Through the course of the play, he realizes his weaknesses and false decision and at the same time, his values change. For instance, in Act V, his care for Cordelia is illustrated through an excerpt from his speech: “He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven and fire us hence like foxes”14. By this, he means that no human should part him and his only loyal daughter. This is an indication of his regretful moment as he weeps with Cordelia’s body in his arms.
People’s opinions vary as they read books or plays from distinct perspectives; however, I was able to determine some strong agreements as well as disagreements with Martha Fiske’s class on a Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear. I was at first perplexed by her students’ comments like Ms. Fiske, but as I read the article a few times, my thoughts on the play began to sway. I do not completely concur to the ideas; nevertheless, I strongly agree with the students’ explanation of Lear and Gloucester’s foolish behaviours. The students view Lear as a sexist, selfish brat, and an old foolish man who does not regret the wrongs he did. This perspective is the opposite of how I think: Lear is a tragic hero because his greatness is damaged through downfall caused by the hubris, but his later epiphany makes him suitable to be an admirable character. Or, maybe, Lear really is an “egomaniac”15.



1) M. Fiske, What Happened to Mrs. Lear? – or, Students Force a Fresh View of King Lear (English Journal, 1987) 85
2) Ibid. 82
3) Ibid. 82
4) Ibid. 85
5) W. Shakespeare, King Lear (New York: Signet Classic, 1998) 7
6) Ibid. 34
7) Ibid. 88
8) M. Fiske, What Happened to Mrs. Lear? – or, Students Force a Fresh View of King Lear (English Journal, 1987) 82
9) W. Shakespeare, King Lear (New York: Signet Classic, 1998) 12
10) Ibid. 11
11) M. Fiske, What Happened to Mrs. Lear? – or, Students Force a Fresh View of King Lear (English Journal, 1987) 84
12) W. Shakespeare, King Lear (New York: Signet Classic, 1998) 7
13) M. Fiske, What Happened to Mrs. Lear? – or, Students Force a Fresh View of King Lear (English Journal, 1987) 84
14) W. Shakespeare, King Lear (New York: Signet Classic, 1998) 132
15) M. Fiske, What Happened to Mrs. Lear? – or, Students Force a Fresh View of King Lear (English Journal, 1987) 82

David Liu: Teen Crime

Eassy07/07/13
David Liu
Teenage Crime
Teenage crime has become a serious social problem nowadays in both western and eastern countries. A large number of sociologists have spent a lot of time studying this phenomenon, aiming to find out its causes. Some of them have indicated that parents’ wrong behaviors, media’s negative influence and lack of systemized control are the three main reasons for this problem. Also, they have shown us three useful measures of preventing it based on their research.

Teenage crime is a social syndrome caused by several aspects. First of all, parents’ wrong behaviors are the major reason to drive their kids crazy. One of the parents, or even both, has some illegal habits such as drug abuse, theft and gambling. Others have got used to some unethical behaviors like borrowing money from other people but never repaying. Obviously, these habits or behaviors would mislead their children to go on a wrong way. We should never forget that children like imitating every action from their parents. Furthermore, parents’ bad relationship such as endless quarreling and fighting in front of their children, or the worst scenario—getting divorce is absolutely a negative influence of their children.　Not to mention they will no longer have normal full love from their parents; they easily suffer from discrimination not only at schools but also in communities. And such pressure will affect their personalities and will finally even force them to leave home to join a gang group. Moreover, insulting children or physical punishment carried out by parents by saying such things as ‘you are worth nothing’ or beating them in the public places would no doubt ruin their self respect, and later, these children will be full of resentment towards society.

Secondly, Media’s negative influence is another important matter to blame. Information technology development has brought several negative consequences. One of them is that children now can easily reach adult-oriented matters. DVDs, VCDs, internet soft wares, and midnight TV programmes full of sex and violent scenes lure millions of youths to drop out of their schools, rape their neighbour’s girls and even play killing games. In addition, young students nowadays can obtain almost all the news happening in the world through the internet or chat room to know what other countries’ teenagers are doing. As we know, most of the news is related to the ugly side such as killing, fighting, and raping; such information or ‘news’ is nothing but an ignition, only seducing young guys to do the same awful things in their own communities.

Thirdly, lack of systemized control is a big barrier to control teenage crime. In some countries, law and regulations are not completely established yet. Teenagers can purchase alcohol, cigarettes even drugs whenever they want. In other countries, although law and regulations exist, they are usually not administered strictly. Therefore, when teenagers commit crimes, they are not afraid of punishment. Under such circumstances, it is no wonder that school teachers would turn a blind eye when they see their students doing drugs, that neighborhoods prefer to close their doors when noticing young guys living in the same community fighting each other, even killing each other.

However, teenage crime is not a kind of disease like SARS. Sociologists have already shown us several methods to prevent it. First, as the premise, we should make comprehensive law and regulations related to this social problem. One of them is to create Youth Protecting Law; a specific law to both protects teenagers from becoming involved in crimes and punishing those who have committed crimes related to youths. Meanwhile, all schools should take the responsibility to not only educate teenagers to be good students but also to protect them to stay far away from crimes. Second, it is necessary to establish a parenting education system to prevent in-family violence such as, for example, to set up Pre-marriage Education School aiming to let all pre-fathers and pre-mothers know their real responsibility when they get married or have a baby. Another useful system is called community school, the purpose of which is to educate the parents who have the history of crime or abusing their children and to prevent them from committing the same crime again. Third, regarding the media’s negative influence, we should first set up a protecting system to block all unsuitable TV programmes for teenagers. V-chip is a popular fashion and it has proved extremely useful. Another important way is to widen the legal usage of ‘Show your ID’ activity. We should extend this action from only restricting of alcohol and tobacco to limiting of the entire category in which it is necessary. Only by doing this, we can control such media with harmful contents.

In short, the research for finding out the main causes of crime among teenagers has yielded fruitful results; still, not everybody understands the relationship between teenage crime and those facts: parents’ wrong behaviors, media’s negative influence and lack of systemize control. In the meantime, although people have found some useful ways to prevent it such as to complete and tighten law and regulations, to develop a parenting education system and to set up protecting system to block unsuitable media; we still have a long way to go to completely control teenage crime.

Anna Lee: Teenage Crime

Teenage Crime rate is increasing rapidly. The safety of our neighborhood is in danger because most of the teenage crimes happen on the street. Innocent people are often hurt or killed. In order to avoid teenage crime, two major causes of crime, drugs and guns, need to be addressed.

Drug abuse is a major cause of crime among teenagers. Teenagers face lots of problems, such as unsatisfactory school environment, unfulfilled parental expectations, and gang violence. Drug abusers tend to have lower self-esteem and feel less in control of their lives than other teenagers of the same age. Using drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and cigarettes, is a way for them to forget their problems, maybe not for a long time, but at least for a while.



Inappropriate use of gun is the second major cause of crime among teenagers. It is easier to get a gun than 10 years ago. Not only can teenagers buy a gun from their gang friends, but also they can buy a gun from the web. Drive-by shooting, robbery, and murder are the vicious consequences brought by guns. Having a gun for teenagers is also a symbol to gain a sense of power, so they can rebel against authority.

To prevent teenage crime, the government, the community, the school, and the parents need to do the following preventions: first, the government need to set more rigid rules to prevent teenagers from buying drugs and guns. Second, the community should work with teenagers and provide alternatives such as youth-oriented social services recreation, volunteer opportunities and job training. Third, the school should educate teenagers to be more tolerant of others and respect others. Fourth, parents must become familiar with indicators of their child’s potential involvement of using drugs or guns.

In conclusion, teenagers are in the stage of developing independence and identity. They are using drugs and guns to gain peer support, security, and acceptance. The government, the community, the school, and parents should work together to provide appropriate guidance to prevent them from crime.

Eric Presto: Same-Sex Marriage

20 years ago, people could hardly accept the concept of same-sex marriage at all. They regarded these “special people” as dangerous animals like bears and snakes. However, nowadays, the world is changing rapidly. Many of the ideas and traditions are becoming extinct. More and more people are getting accustomed to the existence of these people. However, the fact that same-sex marriage is becoming a threat to the traditional family will never change.

First, same-sex marriage challenges the traditional definition of family. The common traditional definition of family is a man united with a woman by marriage. Therefore, after the wedding ceremony a family is established. However, if a man marries a man, or a woman marries a woman, this union does not meet the definition of a family. Thus we do not call them a family. Nevertheless, same-sex groups are conducting a series of activities such as pride parade and organizing their own clubs to loud their voice, declaring they should not only be regard as normal families, but also proud of their behaviors. --The traditional definition of family is in danger that it would be changed to a new one by such continuous movements at any time.

Second, the increasing number of same-sex marriage is changing the world’s population of opposite-sex families. There was even a report in recent newspaper telling people “gayby boom” is one of the most significant phenomena all over the world. As a matter of fact, the more gays and lesbians there are, the less opposite-sex families there will be. Although gays and lesbians are still a small group of people in the world, compared to twenty years ago, the same-sex marriage is now on the rise. In addition, there are some people who were not same-sex interested when they were young, but due to any reason, slowly and slowly they changed from normal people to gays or lesbians. It is the most dangerous thing that is happening because once a man changes from normal person to a gay, it means not only the number of gays will increase, but also the number of traditional family will decrease at the same time. It is steering at double speed.

Last, the children raised in same-sex marriage environment will greatly affect the way of thinking of same-sex marriage in the next generation. In addition to adopting children, it is amazing to learn that the same-sex marriage union is starting to have “their own” children by having a surrogate to help them. Therefore, their children must be greatly influenced by their gay or lesbian parents. It is a question that whether a child who is raised by gays or lesbians can have a traditional judgment and attitude on same-sex marriage.

In conclusion, the same-sex marriage is threatening the traditional family. By challenging the traditional definition of family, with the increasing numbers of same-sex marriage and children growing up in same-sex union, will the future become gay’s and lesbian’s world?

Essay07/07/02
David Liu
Same-sex Marriage is Wrong

Actually, it is true that in 2005, Canada’s House of Commons approved of the same-sex marriage and legalized adoptions by same-sex couples. However, it does not mean that seam-sax marriage has become a new trend of human beings’ marriage style, nor does mean that it has been accepted by traditional families. Nevertheless, personally, I still think that same-sex marriage is wrong for two reasons: it is against nature and a threat to the traditional family.

First of all, same-sex marriage is against our nature. Everything constituting nature depends on its opposite side; without its opposite side, the other side can no longer exist. As nobody can deny the fact that there is no earth without sun, and no moon without earth, we cannot deny the essence of nature either: there is no negative without positive. Human beings are just a part of our nature, and nature created human beings with both sexes: male and female. Naturally, there is no world without male, and there is no world without female; by only keeping the balance can our nature become real nature. Certainly, our mother nature knows that only keeping the balance is not enough; without new generation, nature can ages, decays, and finally vanishes. This is why we call our nature ‘mother nature’. And as for human beings, the nature is to have the capacity of procreating. Obviously, same-sex marriage has no such function to bear offspring.

Secondly, same-sex marriage is a threat to the traditional families’ ethics. For several thousands years, people have recognized the fact that a family should be composed of one man and one woman united in marriage, and in most occasions, bearing at least one child. Meanwhile, as a special condition, people may call a single father or mother with one or several children ‘a family’ but never call the union which made up by two men or two women (with or without children) ‘a family.’ This is not only because it is psychologically so ‘strange’ (how do we put ‘two men’ or ‘two women’ at their proper positions respectively within one family?), but also because this kind of ‘union’ is physically non-procreative. That is why we should say that same-sex family also ruins the basis of family. Some same-sex families might argue that they can adopt babies. However, it is crystal clear that adopting children by same-sex couples has its harmful aspects compared to the opposite-sex ones. The most severe result is that it could damage these children’s personalities. As soon as they are adopted by same-sex marriage couples, they are deprived of either male or female role models, facing either ‘two mothers’ or ‘two fathers’ strange condition. I deeply believe that almost all the normal children cannot tolerate such difficult situation. As they grow, most of them could become more and more confused about the fact and absolutely could suffer from every pressure that comes from their schoolmates, neighbors, and even their own relatives. And then, it is obvious that both their physical and psychological behaviors would be deeply affected and misled. Furthermore, generally speaking, adopted children tend to be easily harassed or abused by their stepfathers and mothers, and which is worse, when their stepfathers and mothers are same-sex couples. As far as I am concerned, a large number of same-sex couples have their own sexual behavior. We have to recognize the fact that both the following situations are nothing but real crimes to the children: to be accidentally seen the scene on the spot by their kids, and on the occasion that the children are forced to carry out the same sexual activities. In short, adoptions by same-sex couples place these children in an undesirable environment and could destroy their lives for good.

In conclusion, same-sex marriage is not only against nature but against current society’s ethics as well. Although it is legal in Canada, it should not be advocated.

Tatiana Novikova : Globalization in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the ninth biggest country in the world. It has its own traditions and identity. Also, of course, my native country is an economically independent country. It has fased a problem of globalisation for the last thirty years. Globalisation has had some negative and positive effects on my native country.

Negative effects have appeared in economy and culture. Globalisation has destroyed an industrial section of economy. Many manufacturing facilities have been closing. A lot of professional experienced workers were forced to change their professional fields. The extractive industry depends of developed countries now. It forced to use only those technologies which were supplied by developed countries. Moreover, the extractive manufacturers had to undersign disadvantageouse contracts with their partners. Also, Kazakhstan has had a big problem with brain drain. A lot of talented scientists have left their mother land for last thirty years. This process slowed down the growth economy because country forfeited of its own know-hows. Globalisation has affected the culture, too. People from big cities of Kazakhstan prefer to eat the same food as the Europeans. But this kind of food is greatly different from Kazakh cousine. For example, people prefer to buy pizza or hamburger rather than kebob or manty. Our teenagers don't know native kineograph. They watch only American or European movies. If you see people in the any of biggest cities of country you could think, that it is one of the European cities.They waer jeans and suits. In addition, women wear jeans,too but they couldn't wear throuthers thirty years ago because of muslim religion. The language has change,too. Many younge Kazakh don't know their native language. They prefer to learn English and Russian because they cannot find a good job without these skills.

However, Kazakhstan has received some positive advantages from globalisation in economy and culture. Globalisation has aided a growth of modern housebuilding. Now many kazakh can live in more comfortable appartments then before. Salaries have been growing, too. Many new factorioes was opend for last thirty years. Forein owners were ready to pay bigger salary to good workers then they used to earn before. Now people can buy cars, but before it was very difficult. Poeple didn't have money for it and buyers didn't have a choce of model of car. Now, our streets are rich with different kinds of cars. Globalisation has had positive effects on culture. A lot of younge kazakhs learn in foreingh universities. They became more experienced specialists then their fathers. Hosehold activities have changed very much. Now, we have a lot of mechanical assistants at home. They made our life easier and comfortable then before. Also, we have more time for vacation and chance for travelling. Before our people couldn't travell to any point of the world. Now, economy of Kazakhstan is growing and people earn enough money for travelling.

Kazakhstan experience new period in its life. This time is difficult but useful for my motherland. Globalisation is necessary process in the world, but each country, not only Kazakhstan, has both some benefits and some penalties.

Jasmine Chung: School Shootings

School Shooting: Who is responsible?

When tragedy strikes, it is natural to look for someone to blame; however, when it comes to serious issues such as school shootings, the task can be very difficult. When a child commits a violent act in school, the finger of blame can be pointed in many directions. Many of the victims’ families wonder where the primary responsibility lies, including teachers, administrators, school board officials, or the government. Recently, there has been a surge in school crimes around the world; therefore, it is important to find the methods of preventing such violence within the school environment. In her article “Who is Responsible for School Safety”, Julie Thomerson discusses the different parties that can easily be blamed for school shootings including school board officials, teachers and the government. The two articles below criticizes people who are working within the school environment or in the media related company; however, the primary responsibility lies on parents due to their lack of communication with their children. Parents should be aware of the importance of communication with their children, what they can say to prevent school violence, and what they can do to build a safer school environment for their children. It is high time parents stopped blaming the school violence on such external factors as the teachers, media, or the government and established optimum communication with their children to prevent school violence.

Julie Thomerson reports on a variety of people including two main parties who can easily be targeted for the responsibility of school shootings and safety. She states that some victims claim that school officials should have noticed the child’s potential for violence or that school safety policies were inadequate. In addition, many of the families of shooting victims filed a lawsuit against the school board, claiming that it was their responsibility to take steps to prevent the tragedy. Also, she refers to those who believe that the responsibility lies on teachers who are “our first line of defense” and school staff due to their failure to pay attention to the student’s behavior and their help when necessary. Lastly, as Julie Thomerson states, people believe that without better guidelines and protections, teachers are not “fully equipped to handle every situation.” Parents are demanding for better school policies, and arguing that it was their fault for not being able to identify children’s potential violence; however, teachers often feel as if they were restricted by the federal requirements. In addition, she said, “Teachers need training to recognize those who need help and to know how to respond.” Julie stated that students who posses pocket knives, drugs or other gun related items were just expelled and nothing more. Therefore, she believes that state legislatures are also responsible for this issue because they do not put demands for greater gun control measures such as stricter licensing and restricted sales.

In the second article “Parents blame Kentucky school shooting on Hollywood, video game makers”, Gene Policinski explains how the parents of three students killed during a school shooting at a Kentucky high school filed a lawsuit on the entertainment industry, arguing that media violence inspired the boy who caused the school shooting. The lawsuit claims that the shooter Michael Carneal, was influenced by the violence on video games as well as the internet. The suit also charges that Carneal was keen logging onto internet sites where he was exposed to sexually violent material freely. Sabrina Steger, the mother of the victims stated, “We believe the Heath shooter was influenced by the movies he watched, the computer games he played and the Internet sites he visited.”

Currently, the number of school shootings are increasing across North America and many victims believe that teachers and school staff are responsible for school shootings and safety while it is the lack of communication between parents and children that is the primary cause. It is true that teachers and students associate with each other for many hours at school; however, there are around thirty students per class, and one teacher cannot pay attention closely enough to notice each student’s potential for violence. Instead of relying on teachers to teach the children about school shootings, direct communication between children and parents is more effective. There are many reasons why it is important for parents to communicate with children. If parents are quiet about the situation, children will assume that they do not care about safety in the school environment. The CNN news conducted interviews with 409 teenagers between the ages of thirteen and seventeen and the results showed 79 percent of teens never talked to adults about school shootings. This result shows that if parents do not take the action to talk to their children first, they will have a total misperception. This is important in that parenting style and practices can influence children’s behaviors. Parents these days are full time employees who are too busy worrying about their financial debt. The important thing is to open up the topic and approach a conversation with children first about school-related issues. A simple question such as, “What do you think about the school shooting in ______?” may be an easy and comfortable way to start a conversation. The fact that such horrible violence does happen means that it can definitely happen to them also; therefore, the “it can’t happen here” or “it won’t happen to me” type approaches do not help children understand the significance of knowing how to avoid school shootings.

Parents, instead of realizing their responsibility, have blamed many media sources such as video games. This argument is not acceptable because children were demonstrating violent behaviors before media was even present. "It's really not about the graphics but it's really about [the gunman] acting on his impulses and having a way to express these impulses," psychiatrist Ariel Dalfen says of the typical game player. Instead of blaming the media, he urged that parents should teach their children the major differences between reality and fantasy. Many children who play video games do not realize that the graphics and the event occurring in the game is just a fantasy, and it is morally wrong to perform such acts in real life. More importantly, parents should be focusing more intensively on the materials their children are seeing online. In addition, they should take control of the media sources. For example, they need to prevent children from playing violent games, replacing them with educational games that will enhance their knowledge, creativity and imagination in positive ways.

The last few years have been the timeline of frightening acts of violence in which children have possessed handguns and rifles. This major complication has caused public to blame the government for the nation’s poor gun control policies. It is obvious that laws and regulations on gun purchases are beginning to change now by the government; however, parents must realize that it is a long process and if the government bans guns and other weapons, gun ownders will be protesting against this situation, causing a major conflict between citizens and government. The attorney General Janet Reno stated, “It is important that [parents] make sure that guns are not in the hands of young people.” Our government represent the nation, but it cannot represent each individual. Also, since the government cannot provide all the answers to complex problems, parents can help at home by talking to their children and also taking positive action. Setting good role model will benefit children’s future and help them understand that “the answers are not always in state legislatures and city counsels” (House of minority leader, Dick Gephardt of Missouri). Parents can prevent school shootings by finding out about safety plan at children’s school and talking with the principal if the safety plan seems inadequate. Most importantly, it is important for children to know that parents will always be there to help them.

The term” school shootings” keeps appearing in the news frequently, and it is a term popularized in North America to describe fun violence in the educational environment. It is natural for the victim’s families to sue media, government, teachers and school staff because they are popular sources in which children are exposed to violence. The major problem is that the primary responsibility of these situations are not on politicians, educators, police or government. It is a wake-up call to parents. A weak family relationship that lacks in communication will increase the number of school shootings across North America. School shootings can be avoided if parents set good examples for their children, letting them know that it is important to talk to adults about any concerns. Television brings concerns and horror into every home and new incidents should raise questions about the ability to stop the violence. Instead of blaming others, parents taking actions by communicating and reassuring their children can greatly benefit their future and their behaviors.

David Liu: Walkerton Tragedy

Essay07/07/05
David Liu
Walkerton Water Tragedy
In 2003, there was a contaminated water related tragedy that happened in Wakerton, a small town located not far from London, Ontario. There were total six children who died and over two thousand people who got sick due to the tainted water. Through a later investigation, people eventually found that there were at least four reasons causing the tragedy as follows.

Firstly, cow manure was the main cause of the water contamination. There were many pastures around the town with over thousands cows on them. Before the tragedy happened, it had been raining heavily for two weeks, and the cow manure which contained a kind of fatal Ecoli called O—157---was flushed into the underground, and then it contaminated one of the three wells which were the major suppliers of drinking water for the local people.

Secondly, water system’s failure contributed to the tragedy. There was a big problem in the well’s chlorine purification system, and it eventually lost its function to filter the E.coli. As a result, the contaminated well water ran directly into the taps, and then, was drunk by thousands of poor local people.

Thirdly, the town’s water officials’ carelessness was another major reason. At first, although the local water officials inspected the water and found the E.coli. even one week before the tragedy happened, they hid the information on purpose and didn’t warn the local people. And then, when a large number of local people suffered from diarrhea and inquired if there were some problems in the water, the officials just said, ’No.’ Besides, they didn’t contact the local government and let the disaster spread widely.

Finally, the Ontario government also should take responsibility for this tragedy. They not only cut back the budget used for water and water system’s improvement but also privatized water testing labs to save money; this kind of privatization caused the labs out of control of government.

In conclusion, the Wakerton tragedy could have avoided if the local farms’ owners had had good control of the cow manure, if the water system had been inspected timely, if the town’s water officials had shared the information with local people and warned them in time, and if the Ontario government had paid more attention to the water supply system.

Wang Taei Lee: Communication

Differences in Communication Between Men and Women

Family is not only a place to eat, to sleep or just a shelter; instead, it provides safety, happiness and development for everyone. Most men and women agree with that, but according to Deborah Tannen's research, a sociolinguistic approach in his book " You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation", men and women have two major differences in communication which often break up the marriage.

First of all, the way a man or a woman listens to each other is apparently different. Women look at their partners when they talk. They make more listener-noise, such as "mhm", "uhuh", and "yeah" to respond someone's talk. On the other hand, men always keep silence at home, looking elsewhere or do something else when their wives talk to them. Actually, that doesn't mean they ignore their wives. Furthermore, their expectations are different. Women always have their expectation in conversation, they need their husband's eye contact and physical alignment in response while men interpret a stream of listener noise as overreaction or impatience. When most women's talks are assumed to express agreement and support, many men see their conversations as pointing out other side of argument.

Secondly, Deborah Tannen said in her book that men and women have their differences in communication from their early teen's. Boys have more hierarchical concern when they talk and have more inclusive games when they play; this not only affects their attitude to listen when they grow up but also most importantly gets them into the habit of switching topics. Therefore, boys tend to jump topic to topic, but girls tend to talk at lengh about on one topic. There are also some linguistic differences between them. Women create and maintain the intimacy by exchanging words, there are more suggestions in women's talk while men have more defence and aggression in their topic-changing conversation.

In conclusion, Deborah Tannen's study gave every family a great lesson. Husbands and wives need more understanding about the differences in conversation between genders; then accept them so that the conflict in family might be decreased to minimum. As a matter of fact, I still believe that family is the most important value in this world and needs to be protected now.

Wang Taei Lee: Population Problem

Population problems in History Some sociologists and politicians have been worried about the problem of population growing for a century. It is true that the population of the world always keeps growing. Some statistics show approximately 100 babies are born every 15 seconds, and it will cause worse situation on both public and private fields. In the meantime, how can we explain this phenomenon that many countries encourage their people to increase re-production rate while other countries enforce a strict birth control policy? In a historical point of view, we can see this problem in the following three periods of time: in the difficult time; in the ages of birth control; in the modernization era.

In the past when it was in the difficult time, people made efforts to increase birth rate, but population growing was finite. There were three elements to limit the population. First of all it's natural disasters. They often killed people in a huge number when the public rescue systems hadn't been developed. The second one was shortage of health care which included sanitation, medical and nutrition. Most people hardly could live longer than 50. Many babies died soon after they were born, and millions of human being often past away after flu diseases (like Black disease in Europe in 17 century) spread around. The third was wars, people killed people, countries destroyed each other so often, a great deal of people were suffering and furthermore lost their lives because of that.

After World War II, the world enjoyed a comparative peaceful life in which baby-boomers arrived and population growing rate was on the rise. Many countries realized that and started to engage to control the birth rate. The most famous case was the one-child policy in China. Even though the technology of abortion was mature, the authoritarian in China used the political power intervened the civilian affair cruelly. Many baby girls were killed silently by their own parents soon after they were born, just because they were in the wrong gender, their parents wanted a boy, and government only allowed one child in one family. That was the worst example in the world.

The population situation in the developed countries changed gradually when they were modernized and became rich. It is amazing that people delivered their children frequently in difficult time and at poor places. When they were in good living circumstances, they became too busy (or too lazy) to give birth. As the cost to raise children went higher, most families even couldn't afford to have one or two more children in the wealthy society; therefore, the population growing rate slid down in the developed countries. This situation forced those countries to provide many subsidies to encourage people to re-produce the next generation but still in vain, and this was the reason why those countries opened their boarder to welcome the immigrants and foreign labours to maintain their economy growing.

The modernization of societies increases the happiness and comfort for the human being, and it's their main purpose. They didn't expect the side effect, the low re-production rate, would happen. Help those countries which still suffer from the population growing problem to become wealthy, their birth rate will be going down automatically. Talking about this problem, I prefer the modernization itself to be a moderate solution and drive the equality a little bit between the southern countries and the northern countries.

Rafael Bong: Symbolism in Kite Runner

“I was going to win. It was just a matter of when.” This is an excerpt from the novel “Kite runner”, as Author Khaled Hosseini describes the life of two different social class Afghani boys in a Kite contest. The story is narrated from Amir’s point of view, a boy from the high class of the society. As a child, Amir loved flying Kites with Hassan as an influencing factor of Amir’s life. In the novel, there are many symbolic ideas involved and the author describes the plot using symbols. In the novel ‘Kite Runner’, author Khaled Hosseini exhibits the theme and the plot of the story through symbolism of the Kite, the monster in the lake and the kite contest.

For one thing, Hosseini display Amir’s emotions and the relationship between Hassan and Amir through the symbol Kite. As the Kite contest began, Amir was nervous; however, with “…[the] Kite rocketing into the sky” (108-109), Amir overcomes his fears and becomes confident in himself. As the contest concluded, Amir and Hassan showed close relationship, as explained by the excerpt “You won, Amir agha! You won!” said Hassan “We won! We Won!” said Amir. This excerpt describes how Amir himself is not concerned about the social difference with Hassan. Also, the kite symbolizes freedom as Amir’s kite flies “…like a paper bird flapping its wings.” Amir himself becomes one with the kite and enjoys the freedom of overcoming the fear and as though he is flying like a bird.

Secondly, “monster in the lake” symbolizes the fear Amir possesses. Over all, Amir’s greatest fear seems to be the fear of his father. As a parent, his father expects Amir to be like him, and Amir understands it and tries to meet that expectation. But, as he had been living in a state where his father’s deeds overshadow him, Amir loses morale and feels pressured. “Suddenly I wanted to withdraw. Pack it all in, go back home. What was I thinking? Why was I putting myself through this, when I already knew the outcome? Baba was on the roof, watching me. I felt his glare on me like the heat of a blistering sun.” However, the monster in the lake also gives Amir the hope to win the contest. As Hassan comforts Amir from the tension, Amir decides to “…take off [his] shirt take a swim in the lake”, becoming confident in himself.

Similarly, the kite contest represents Amir’s need to prove himself. Like many children with a father who has done great deeds, Amir feels pressured to prove himself to himself and his father. Amir’s morale and confidence erode even though he sets goals to be better than his father which seems like an impossible task. Also, Amir is pressured more to prove himself to himself, so he will need to trust himself in order to gain confidence that he can do it. As Amir felt weakened by Hassan who seems to know him better than Amir, Amir said “I was the one who went to school, the one who could read, write. I was the smart one. Hassan couldn’t read a first grade textbook but he’d read me plenty.” This shows how Amir himself wants to prove that he is better than Hassan through winning the Kite contest. Moreover, Amir expects all of the people to know about him as himself not as a friend of someone or son of someone. Amir felt threatened with all those ambitions and pressures; however, overcoming of all obstacles, Amir gains trust in himself and realizes that he was going to win and “…it was just matter of when.”

In conclusion, the novel “kite runner” explains the story of a boy overcoming all that bounds him as Amir gains experience through events that gradually allow him to be an adult. The need to break free from all the fears and the pressures remains with Amir throughout his life. The novel expresses those thoughts through the symbolism within the Kite, Kite contest and the Monster in the Lake.